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Rachel Karen Green ^{[1] [2]} is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, who received an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe for her performances.

Background

Rachel was born on May 5th. She grew up in Long Island with her mother Sandra (played by Marlo Thomas), her father Leonard ( Ron Leibman) and her two sisters; Jill ( Reese Witherspoon) and Amy ( Christina Applegate). Her father is a doctor and her family is shown to be incredibly wealthy, having stated that they owned a boat and that she had her own pony. She and her sisters are portrayed to be vain and spoiled. She is described as being the most popular girl in her high school and was a head cheerleader. Despite this her best friend was the formerly fat and unpopular Monica Geller ( Courteney Cox). Being close to Monica's family, she also knows Monica's older brother Ross Geller ( David Schwimmer); who harbours a long unrequited love for her, and his best friend from college Chandler Bing ( Matthew Perry).

Rachel first appears in the Pilot episode, running into Central Perk in a rain-soaked wedding dress. Rachel had run away from her wedding to Barry Farber ( Mitchell Whitfield), after realizing that she didn't really love him. Monica, whom she hasn't seen in years, invites her to stay with her in her apartment. It is in this episode that she first meets Phoebe Buffay ( Lisa Kudrow) and Joey Tribbiani ( Matt LeBlanc).

Personality

Rachel's personality evolves during the series. Early on, she is portrayed as a spoiled "daddy's girl" but later, especially after having Emma, becomes less self-absorbed. Image-conscious Rachel had a nose job when she was a teenager, which, she claimed, was due to a deviated septum. Flashback episodes show her with a much larger nose and the insinuation is that the operation was for image, a fact confirmed by a flippant comment from her sister Amy, regarding Emma – "Do you ever worry that Emma's going to get your real nose?". She can be arrogant - her involvement with her neighbor, Danny, shows Rachel with some inability to comprehend that a man may not be interested in her.

After working as a waitress, she was encouraged to use her interest in fashion to get a job in that world. Her focus on this and image come at the expense of domestic skills or common knowledge, of which she was constantly mocked for having little of. In one episode, for example, she accidentally used beef when making a trifle for Thanksgiving dessert after misreading the recipe (the pages were glued together).

Relationships

Ross

Rachel's most prominent relationship throughout the series is with Monica's older brother Ross. When she moved to the city in the pilot Ross still holds feelings for her from high school. Although the rest of the gang are aware of this Rachel stays oblivious until Chandler inadvertently reveals this on her birthday in the season one finale. Ross tries several times in the first season to admit his feelings but is constantly stopped by other people such as her ex-fiance Barry and Paolo (played by Cosimo Fusco), a man she met during an electrical blackout.

After finding out about his love for her, Rachel discovered she also had feelings for Ross, but when she goes to tell him he is seen with a girlfriend - Julie. Rachel then has to put up with seeing them together, until she leaves him a drunken voicemail telling him how she feels. Ross eventually broke up with Julie to be with Rachel, but she found a list of pros and cons he wrote in order to make his choice, and was deeply distressed at his assessment of her, so called it off. They finally get together in "The One With the Prom Video". They date for about a year before Ross's constant jealousy of her colleague Mark leads Rachel to suggest taking "a break". Ross takes this to mean they have broken up and whilst depressed gets drunk and sleeps with someone else. When Rachel finds out, she ends things for good. From then on, the two shared an on/off relationship and are usually seen to be jealous when the other dates someone else; such as when Ross dates Phoebe's friend Bonnie (resulting in a short reconciliation) and when Rachel dates her customer Joshua.

Rachel's history of admitting her feelings for Ross when he is with another woman happened again when Ross met Emily, niece of Rachel's boss at Bloomingdale's. Ross and Emily quickly become engaged and decide to get married in London. Rachel claims she cannot attend because she has too much work but later confided in Monica and Phoebe that watching them marry would be too painful. However, she changed her mind and flew to London to tell Ross that she loved him but sees them kissing just before the ceremony. She gave them her blessing instead. Ross then accidentally said Rachel's name at the alter.

Following the wedding, Emily stays in London and tells Ross she will only return if he promises never to see Rachel again. Although at first he agrees to this he then tells her he can't do this and their marriage ends. In the season five finale when the gang head to Las Vegas Ross and Rachel get married when they are drunk and do not remember in the morning. Ross tells Rachel he has annulled the marriage but in fact doesn't because he is in love with Rachel and does not want to have a third marriage end. Rachel is furious when she finds out but when she realizes the reasons behind Ross's decision she forgives him. The two are seen to be friends through the next season except for a brief kiss on the night of Monica and Chandler's engagement. Rachel is revealed to be pregnant and Ross is revealed to be the father in the Season 8 premiere. Although at first Ross thinks they should get married, the two remain friends and agree to raise the baby together and to live together.

In Season 10, Rachel is fired by Ralph Lauren and gets an offer for a job in Paris. This news devastates Ross and he realizes he is still in love with her. At her going-away party, she says goodbye to everyone except Ross and they have a fight about why this happened. Rachel tells him that she can't say goodbye because if she thinks about leaving, then she'll want to stay because Ross is so important to her. After the fight, they sleep together. In the morning, Ross thinks they are back together and is stunned when Rachel says "it was the perfect way to say goodbye". Ross chases her to the airport and admits how he feels but Rachel still gets on the plane. When he returns home however, he finds a message from Rachel on his answering machine telling him that she loves him too. The line cuts off, leaving Ross wondering if she got off the plane when Rachel comes into the apartment saying, "I got off the plane". The two make up, and start dating again in the end of the series.

All the Friends season finales (including the series finale) except for Season 6 involves a Ross and Rachel storyline.

In the spin off sitcom Joey, Joey later states that all of his friends are married and moving on, implying that Ross and Rachel are remarried and living happily ever after with Emma.

Emma Geller-Green

Ross and Rachel's daughter is born in Season 8. Rachel's pregnancy was revealed in the season finale of Season 7. After struggling to find a name for their daughter Rachel wants the name Emma after Monica reveals that's what she plans to call her daughter but lets them have it. Rachel proved to be a protective mother and was furious when Amy got Emma's ears pierced without permission. At first, Emma lives with Rachel and Ross in his apartment, but later moved in with Joey (after Rachel and Ross have a fight). In the series finale, her parents reconcile.

Joey

Joey develops feelings for Rachel in Season 8 and after Ross gives his blessing, he tells her he loves her but she doesn't feel the same way. In the Season 9 episode "The One with the Donor", Rachel tells Phoebe about her feelings for Joey and then tells him in the season finale. Although at first he tells her they cannot be together because of Ross, he changes his mind when he sees Ross kissing Charlie; his ex-girlfriend. In the first episode of Season 10 Ross walks in on the two kissing and although at first he has trouble accepting it he tells Joey he is happy for them. The two date for a while but have trouble when it comes to consumating their relationship and realise they are better off as best friends.And he is also caca.

Monica

Monica and Rachel have been friends since they were six years old. In their high school years, it is revealed that Rachel was a popular cheerleader with a string of boyfriends, whilst Monica was her less attractive, overweight best friend. After this it assumed they lost contact until they meet again in the pilot. A chance encounter, revealed in a flashback, shows that Monica didn't expect to become close friends with Rachel again, with her remarking: "Ten bucks says I'll never see that woman again in my life."

During the time they lived together, the pair coexist in relative harmony, despite their opposing personality types, most notably when concerned with household chores. Monica is portrayed to be extremely uptight and compulsive where as Rachel is shown to never help out and be unaware of where items such as the hoover are kept. Despite these tensions, the two display a true affinity for each other. As Monica tells Phoebe, Rachel has sweet little quirks, such as folding back the pages in catalogues of things she thinks Monica would like, leaving messages on the mirror when Monica takes a shower and letting Monica borrow her hundred-plus pairs of boots.

Their living situation lasted for the first five seasons until eventually Chandler moved in with Monica during Season 6. Rachel's moving out drew the two women to tears. Their relationship mirrors that of sisters, and the two grow even closer once Rachel has Emma as Monica becomes her aunt due to Ross being the father.

Phoebe

Rachel's other best friend. Phoebe first met Rachel in the pilot episode when Rachel leaves Barry and comes to live with Monica.

In a season 5 episode "The One With The Kips", Phoebe and Rachel consider starting a new group of friends with Joey after Emily (Ross's current wife) demands that Ross doesn't see Rachel anymore. Rachel says "We can start a new group, you and me, we're the best ones," to which Phoebe responds "Okay. But let's try to get Joey." This never happened as Ross could not go without seeing Rachel and the group remained as it was.

From seasons 6-7, Rachel and Phoebe lived together after Chandler moved into Monica's apartment. In "The One Where Ross Dates A Student", Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches fire, causing Phoebe to temporarily live with Monica and Rachel to live with Joey. Later on, in "The One with the Holiday Armadillo", the apartment is fixed and Phoebe and Rachel decide to move back but the repair work left them with only one bedroom, so Phoebe lives there alone while Rachel stays living with Joey.

In an early episode, Phoebe and Rachel go to get tattoos together. Though Rachel ends up getting a heart tattooed on her hip, Phoebe does not get the intended lily (for her mother) on her shoulder because she 'didn't know they did it with needles'. Rachel tried to convince her to get the tattoo, but the artist barely touched her with the needle before she ran off screaming. She now has a ' blue freckle' which she claims is 'the earth as (her) mother sees it from heaven'.

Phoebe and Rachel have a strong relationship throughout the series, despite occasional and humorous squabbles over things like three ways, massages, Pottery Barn furniture and an alleged lesbian encounter Rachel had in college (which Phoebe refused to believe).

Chandler

Although it appeared that Rachel and Chandler met for the first time in the pilot episode, they had actually known each other for years. They first met in 1987 when she was introduced to him by Ross. They met at Thanksgiving celebrations at the Geller home initially and met again at a party at Ross and Chandler's college in the winter of 1987, as revealed in the Season 10 episode "The One Where The Stripper Cries." At this party, Chandler and a drunk Rachel shared a kiss (but it was revealed that the only reason Chandler kissed Rachel was to get back at Ross). In 1993, they met again at a bar that was later torn down to make room for Central Perk. Rachel hadn't seen Monica, Ross, or Chandler since her days in high school. At the bar, Chandler overhears Rachel talking to some friends about how she wants to have one last night of meaningless sex before her marriage to Barry, and that she wants to have it with the first guy she lays her eyes on, which happens to be Chandler. They never did hook up, but Rachel did fantasize over him, regretting not letting him take her, but by this time it was too late. This was shown in the Season 3 episode "The One With The Flashback."

At the start of the show, Rachel and Chandler would cross paths again, this time in 1994, when Rachel, having just left Barry at the altar, goes to Central Perk, looking for Monica. During the series, Rachel and Chandler's relationship grows, and they are close friends, often consoling and confiding in one another. On one particular occasion, they share a stolen cheesecake and concealed it from the others. Particularly in earlier seasons, they go out to lunch together a few times.

The two have also set each other up on dates, although the results were mixed; Chandler's first date with Rachel's boss, Joanna, ended because he thought she was too dull while their second date culminated in him being handcuffed to a chair in Joanna's office, while his attempt to set her up on a date with a colleague went abysmally when he claimed she only wanted a fling but later told the guy she was looking for a serious relationship. In Season 2, it is worth noting that Chandler, being the child of divorced parents, is the only friend able to empathize with Rachel when her parents are unable to be in the same room on her birthday. In the episode where Joey and Rachel go on a date, Joey asks Rachel who of the Friends she would punch if she were forced to. Rachel refuses to answer but when Joey prompts, "Chandler?" she replies, "Yeah but I don't know why." In the season 10 episode "The One With Rachel's Going Away Party," Chandler and Rachel share a strong private moment, and Chandler tells her that he loves her, and is going to miss her, and is sad that she's leaving for Paris, to which Rachel responds tearfully "I love you, too."

Family

Like all the main characters, Rachel has slight problems within her family.

Sandra Green ( Marlo Thomas), her mother, can be quite dominating and unpleasant without going overboard. She can also be quite harsh with her opinions (such as, for instance, when she suggested moving into Ross's apartment after Emma's birth and saying that his "dinosaur things" belonged in the garbage). It is implied that Rachel was very like Mrs. Green before she turned things around and started a life in the city, running away from her marriage, whereas Mrs. Green actually married "her Barry." During her first visit, she says that Rachel's life is what she wants.

Dr. Leonard Green ( Ron Leibman), however, is quite a dominating and harsh man when it comes to speaking. He's very concerned about discipline. He has a striking sense of sarcasm and what he deems right or wrong, but he's not afraid of spoiling his daughters (as shown in one episode when Rachel reveals that her father bought her "her own boat" to cheer her up after her "pony was sick"). However, when disagreeing with them, he disables their unlimited use of money. However, despite being quite generous when it comes to his daughters, he shares very little of his wealth with others, as reflected when he leaves a 4% tip at a restaurant after eating out with Rachel and Ross. He was against Rachel leaving Barry at first, but her success in taking control of her life eventually made her, according to her sister in "The One With Rachel's Sister", the only daughter Dr. Green was proud of.

Rachel's parents have had barely any love life, as they married for the sake of money; according to Rachel, they barely even spoke (except when they argued) and divorced in Season 2. They could not be in the same room together, as shown when the Friends throw Rachel two birthday parties; one with Rachel's mother in Monica's apartment and one with her father in Joey and Chandler's. Rachel also has two sisters, Jill, ( Reese Witherspoon) and Amy ( Christina Applegate), with whom she has a typical sibling-rivalry relationship; when they were younger, they would constantly pull pranks on each other. Jill is supposedly her "favorite" sister, despite being extremely spoiled, and during her visit when their father decides to financially cut her off, Jill starts dating Ross, but does it to get back at Rachel (Only for Ross to end it because he wanted to be with Rachel). Unlike Jill, who at least found Ross "cute, but nerdy," Amy does not even recognize him and believes he's a falafel-seller. In spite of her tactless nature, it is also revealed that Amy is the "bitter" one, as questioned by Phoebe in the Thanksgiving episode in which Amy comes to spend the holidays with the Friends. Rachel isn't as close to Amy as she is to Jill. When Amy visits during Emma's first Thanksgiving, she only says Hi and tells her she came by to borrow a hair-straightener. She says how "Emmett" is cute and then realizes the baby is a girl.

In "The One with Rachel's Phone Number," some guys in a bar live in her grandmother's building. Her grandma's name is Ida Green and the men's affectionate nickname for her is "Spuds". Rachel says that she has "no sense of personal space, kinda smells like chicken, looks like a potato--that's my bubbe!" This is another indication that the character is of Jewish descent; the word "bubbe" means "grandmother" in Yiddish. She also wears a "Magen David" (David Shield - A symbolic 6 corners star) in one of the episodes (Season 3, the episode that Chandler keeps saying to her boss that he will call her again)

Career

Rachel gets a job as a waitress at Central Perk but is shown not to be very good as she is careless, takes long breaks to sit with her friends and regularly gets orders confused. In the third season, with encouragement from Joey and Chandler she quits her job as a waitress to pursue a career in fashion. Joey is able to get her a job with Fortunata Fashions as a personal assistant. Later on, she gets a job as an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's with the help of colleague Mark, but after Mark leaves and her boss Joanna dies, she is demoted to personal shopper. She then begins a job at Ralph Lauren in "The One With Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss" where she is the coordinator of the women's collection. Ralph Lauren is impressed by her work and in "The One With Rachel's Assistant" she is promoted to merchandising manager where she memorably has an affair with her assistant, Tag Jones.

In the final episodes of the last season, Rachel is fired from Ralph Lauren when her boss overhears her job interview with Gucci, but is offered a lucrative job in Paris with Louis Vuitton by her ex-colleague, Mark. Upset by Rachel's impending move to Paris, Ross, through bribery, manages to convince Rachel's old boss at Ralph Lauren to give Rachel her job back for more money than the offer in Paris. Initially, Rachel declines this offer and decides to accept the job with Louis Vuitton. However, she cancels her plans after realizing she is still in love with Ross.

Surname

Some inconsistency in the spelling of the surname has led to confusion as to the correct spelling. The credits of any episode where her parents appeared list their last name as "Green" and on the Warner Bros. Friends Official Website the biography on Jennifer Aniston states her character's name as Rachel Green. However, in certain episodes it is seen to be spelt "Greene" such as when her name was written on an invitation sent out by Ross and a subsequent RSVP. ^[3]

Birthday

In the episode "The One With Joey's New Girlfriend", Rachel tells Gunther that her birthday is May 5 (her birthday is celebrated in various episodes in May), but in another episode, a policeman looks at her driver's license and finds that she is an Aquarius, suggesting that her birthday lies between January 21 and February 19 (February 11 is Aniston's birthday). Rachel confirms this, although this could be because she was trying to evade a traffic ticket and not because the police officer was actually correct. In "The One with the Fake Party" which aired March 13, 1998, Rachel says she is a 28-year-old cheerleader, which would make her birth year 1969, the same year as Monica's, and one year younger than Ross and Chandler, coinciding with several flashback episodes throughout the series. That also makes the May 5 date more plausible, as she would turn 29 on May 5, 1998.

There are some further inconsistencies. In 2001 (" The One Where They All Turn Thirty"), she celebrates her 30th birthday, implying a birth year of 1971. It is revealed in that episode that she is the youngest of the six friends, as the others had already turned 30 and were relating their birthdays. In the episode, she is wearing a shirt that has her supposed birthday on it (12-4), which is also inconsistent with the dates above.

Notes and references

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